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nu. tsl-7,896. Patented 1an. I7, |899.

L. s. BuFFmGToN. i

APPARATUS FUR IEIIERATING ACETYLENE GAS. v

(Application led Sept. 10, 1896.)

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k.LERYL BUFFl'liGTON, QFAMINN-P'LIS, MINNESOTA.

`Measures eo? e sneanrlne aonrvrens eee srncrrroanron forming per@ timers Paf-,ent N0.e17,eee, esten January 1v, ieee. Application lcdseptemher 1011895.- Serlal No. 605,393. (N6 noclel.)

.To all whom, it may concern: v

Beit known that I, LEROY S. BUFFINGTON,

-a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, inthe county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain'new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Generating Acetylene Gas; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and ex act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use .the same.

My invention relates particularlyto that class of gasf-generating apparatus which is adapted for use in generating acetylene gas and is in the nature oan improvement on the apparatus shown and described in my pending application, Serial No. 580,182, filed February 2l, 1896, entitied Apparatus forl Generating Acetylene Gas. To simplify the con' struction shown in mysaid prior application in certain respects te ren-der the'manipulation of other parts thereof more easy and in general-te render the action of the apparatus as'an-ieni tirety more efficient and complete, thereby adapting the same to produce a drier and better-gas freed from water and gnmmy impurities,'i's the object of my present invention.

Tov these ends my invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described, and dened in the claims.-

The preferred form of my apparatus is illus'- trated in the accompanying drawi gs, where;

- -generating-ch'alnber partially removed Ifrom the fixed portion. Figjl is an enlarged'view with some parts broken away and others shown in section, taken also on the line X4 X4 of Fig. 3 and illustrating/ principally the relations of' the; pair of valves which are controlled by the movement o'f the movable gasplaced in the well c5.

ometer-section; and Fig. 6 is a detail view, partly in perspective and. partly in section, showing a portion of the drying'-Chamber` and the auxiliary carbid=holde1n a andn' represent, respectively, the :fixedvand thennoyable sections of anordinary ltelescopiallyenpansibl storage gasometer water ,e to the ordi-nary points of gas con sumption.

The generator used to generate and supply 'thejg'as toy the storage-gasometer involves a 0f these rccep pair of receptacles-lzfand c. taelesthe memberV is adapted to contain water z', is: u. above the member c, and is in communicest-ion therewith through a hollow neck d, which is provided `with a valve As shown, thewater-containing receptacle `l is provided with a removable cover b',

land thelower portion of the same is in communication with the interior of the gesondeter-seetion a, through ashort valved pipe connection bibs, through which whenl thevalve. b3 is opened water may be supplied to the water-receptacle b from the annular compartment formed between the gasometer-sections a and d. The generating-receptacle c comprises aixed head-section c', which ispro vided with a depending cylindrical portion cfa and outwardly-projecting annular ange or rim c3, and a removable bottom section c4 in the form of Aa cylinder having a closed lower'end and `an annular `Welle5 at its up'` per end. Water or other sealing liquid z2 is When the sections of this generating-receptacle are placed in working position, as shown in Figs. `l and 3 of the drawings, the lower open end of the fixed cylindrical portion c2 will be submerged in the sealing liquid z2 in the well c", and the body of the same will lie very close to the inner wall of said well. vlt Willof course be under- -stood that I do not limit myself to the annular formof the liquid-containing xsealing-Well. This annular sealing-weil is very desirable in many cases and `has. a particularadaptatipn vIoo Vtion simply by taking hold of the catches c* with the 'ngers and disengaging the same kzo from said rim cs and then permitting said bot-- tom section to lower, as shown in Fig? 4.

The carbid-holder e, which I prefer to use in connection with this generator, is in the form of a cylinder with closed lower end and having perforations e' through its side walls, which, extend nearly, but not quite, to thevbottom of the holder. This carbid-holder when loaded with carbid bodies y is placed in'working position within the removable bottom se'ction c* through the cylindrical passage formed by the annular well c5, and, as shown, rests gou an annular rim c7, secured to its lower end. The neck portion d. is continued downward a short distance into the generating-receptacle by means of a short pipe-section d2, the lower end of which is serrated or notched and has secured thereto a dripper da; Thisdripper (Z3 is formed from a small disk of thin metal stamped with a series of channels radiating from its center. The dripper d stands im' mediately over the carbid bodies y in the carbid-holder e. f

As shown, the head-section of the generating-receptacle is secured directlyto the ixed gasometer-section a by means of a bracket cs. Opening to the atmosphere through the fixed head-section c of the generating-receptacle is a discharge or safety nipple c, which is normally closed by a valve c1". The stems oi' the valves d and c10 are provided, respectively, with valve arms or levers d4 and c, which extend to the same side of the generator. I

To the movable gasometer-section a' over the free ends. of the valve-arms d* and c11 is secured theupper end of a chain or iiexible connection f, to the lowerend of whicn is attached a weight f. rlhe intermediate portion of this connection f is loosely wound around the free ends of 'both of the valve: arms d4 and c1?, and the tension of the weight f' will cause the connection to keep its h old on the said.valvearms wherever set. It will thus be seen thatby moving the connection f on the valve-arms the active leverage of the same may be varied and that the valve-arms may be set at various relative adjustments with the greatest of' ease.

The generating-receptacle c is' in communication with the storage-gasometer through gas-conveying connections involving as follows: g indicates an inclined pipe-section Obviously the of the water z.

opening from the generating receptacle through the head-section c and terminating in a downwardly-turnedV condensingcoilvg. This condensing-col g' is incased by a vertically-disposed drum or water-tank g, con-A taining water'z. As shown, the tanlcg2 is 'providedl with a removable cover gs` and a' vdraw-ofl'cock g4, and the pipe-sectiong is pro.- vided with a valve g5.

pocket or drying-chamber g5, lower end of the coil g opens.l

g7- indicates a pipe-section opening at one into which the The lower end of the t `tank g2 is extended downward to form adripend within the drying-chamber g, near the -l top of the same, and opening at its other end within the storage-gasometer above the level As shown, the drip-pocket or drying-chamber g6 is provided in its -bot tom with a drip-cock gs.

The drying action ofthe condensing-coil and drying-chamber is greatly facilitated and, in fact, rendered practically perfect by the introduction of an auxiliary carbid-holderv containing carbid into,the interior of said drip-pocket or drying-chamber. As shown, this carbid-holder is in the form of a reticulate cylinder 7c, adapted to be inserted through a suitable passage g9 in the wail of said drippocket or drying chamber and having a screw-threaded cap lo' at its outer end, which engages suitable screw-threads cut in said passage q9 to form a gas-tight joint therewith. As shown, the carbid-holder 7c is located in a trough g1, secured to one of the walls of said drying-chamber g. The carbid holder is shown as filled with carbid bodies 'y'. It is also important t'note that in this preferred form of my apparatus the carbid-holder when placed in working position in thetrough g1o stands immediately under Vthe lower end yof the condensing-coil g', so that the condensed Water drippings from the coil will be dis charged directly onto the carbid bodies y.

Preferably a small amount of oil is inserted into the gasometer or storage-tank through the aircock a?. This oil will spread'out and form a thin lm or covering over the column of water contained in the movable gasometersection a', as shown at at. This oil seal or oil covering serves to eiectually prevent the evaporation of the water into the interior of the gasometer-section a', but does not, however, extendinto thechamber formed between the gasometerfsection's a and a'. The bodyof Water z2 contained in the well c5 of the gen erating-chamber is also preferably covered witha Iilm of oil z5, while 'the section c? is remov'ed from the head-section c'. Hence when the said parts are put together the oil seal ,c5 will cover the sealing-water z2 both inside and outside of the cylindrical section c2. The im portant functions performed by both of the above-noted oil seals will be more particularly pointed out; after the description of the operation of the apparatus. 4

The reat importance of arranging the bottom section of the generating chamber or rcceptaclc so that the carbid-holder or equivavlent device may be removed' therefrom through the bottom of the same bya downward movement should be noted. As is a well-known fact, acetylene gas is lighter-that is, has a specific gravity less than that of airand hence, of course, will tend'to riseto the ceptacle by a downward movement through the bottom of said chamber. i have found in practice that my carbid-holder may be removed, cleaned, and recharged and replaced in working position without causing the escape of any perceptible amount of the gas with which the generating-chamberis illed.

' It will be noted that in the construction above described the iixed section of the gasometer or storage-tank Serves as a support for the fixed part or body-section of the generating chamber or receptacle.` In other words, the generating-chamber has a support which is entirely independent of the removable bottom thereof. Hence it is not'necessary to distu rb or move the generating chamber or receptacle or its support in order to remove the bottom of said generating chamber-or receptacle from working position.

The carbid-holders being charged with carbid, the tank-sections being providedv with liquids and sealed, as above described, and the valve-arms and valves d4- d and c11 cw being adjusted and connected to the valvecontroller f, as indicated in Figs. l and 5, the operation of the apparatus as an entirety is substantially as follows: rl-he generating action may be started by forcing the valvearzln (Z4 downward by hand or otherwise, so asto ermit the initial flow of the water z from he Water-receptacle b through the neck portion d, valve d', hollow stem (Z2, over the dripper d3, and onto the carbid bodies y in the holder c. When'the water thusilowing strikes the dripper (Z3, it will be split up and thrown off from the same in a'series of fine radially-diverging streams and fvfill .thus be distributed in fine particles over substantially the entire surface of the exposedcarbid bodies. The initial generation of gasis thus started,but will continue intermittently,

y as may be necessary, to keep up the desired supply ofvgas 'under the automatic control of the movable gasometer-section a', acting through the flexible controller connection f. l, The gas generated in the generating-chambery finds an escape and iows through thein!4 clinedv pipe connection g, condensing-coil 4,71*',-

drying-chamber g, and pipe connection gr7 into the int-erior of the lstorage-gasometer a a'. From thev storage-gasometer the gas is drawn olfl as it'is used through the servicepipe as. As is obvious, as the gas-pressure in the gasometer is reduced by the use of 'the gas the movable section a will inwer, thus ermitting the weight f on the connection 7 o P 7 tcvbecome active on the' valve-arm d4,.and thus forcing said arm d4 downward and opening the valve d', as just described, but.

inthis case automatically. VvWhen the pressure in the gasometer has again been inf creased, so as to restorenormal pressure, the gasometer-section a will be raised, carrying with it the valve-arm d4, until: the valve d is turnedinto its closed position, as indicated When, however, by an'over generation of l gas or otherwise the gasometer-section at is raised above this normal zone of operation, the valve 010 will be thrown in to an open position, thus permitting the escape of gas from the genstating-compartment into the open air I As soon as the normal pressure of gas is restored by the escape through the valve cm and nipple o9 the valves d and c10 will both be moved into their...normal closed positions. (Shownin Fig. ,5.)

The importart action of the condenser and drier in the connections between the generating-receptacle and the storage-gasometer will'be nex considered.

Acetylene gas generated by gas-generators of t-he ordinaryl construction is found to be more or less laden with water and with gummy impurities. The water in the gas causes the saine to burn with a smoky flame and the gummy impurities in a short time clog and fill the burners. In my apparat-us above described vall water and gummy impurities are ICO removed by the action of the condenser and drip-pocket or drying-chamber above noted. As the warm and. unpurified gas passes through the inclined pipe-section g it will be slightly cooled and a portion of the watery vapors will be precipitated and run back onto the` carbid in the generatingfchamber.l 'As lthe. gas passes onward through the condens` ing-coilg it will be entirely'cooled and the remainingwatery vapors and other liquid iml purities will be precipitated and will low into the drying-chamber gi.

In the-construction shown, wherein the aux= iliary carbid-holder 7a is located immediately underthe lower open endof the condensing-A coil g,-.the`water which is precipitated in the coil will bedischarged onto the carbid y', containedin said holder, and will be entirely taken up bythe chemicalaction between the same and -said carbid,whichgchemical action of course resultsl in -a further generation of` acetylene gas. This generation of gas will of course be extremely slow, as it depends entirely upon the liquid condensation 'of thel foreign substances contained in the passing gas. Obviously this action of the carbid within tliedrying-chamber renders the drying action almost absolutely complete and perfect. The gummy precipitates even though they do not enter into the gas-forming reaction with the carbid will nevertheless be absorbed thereby or by the lime products, and thus be held from again mixing, by absorption or otherwise, with the gas. While the action of the drying device is greatly facilitated by the action of the carbid, yet the device described will serve the purpose fairly welll; even if this carbid device is dispensed wit Returning to the carbid-holder, it will be noted that the sides of the same, commencing a short distance above its imperforat'e bottom, are provided with several series of perfora'- tions e', each of which series is formed in a dierent horizontal plane located each some little -distance above the other. In virtue of this construction any surplus of water which is not immediately taken up by the chemical action between the same and the carbid on 'which it is dropped will nd its way to the bottom of the carbideholder and will commence action on the particles of carbid which lie closest to the bottom. This chemical action at the bottom of the carbid-holder will continue until the carbid which lies below the lowest series of perforations e' have been entirely decomposed 0r turned into lime, and if after this the lime products remain soaked with water the heat in the generating-chamber will soon .turn the water into steam, which, rising through the carbid in the holder, will continue the generating action from the bottom of the same. It will thus be seen that the carbid in the holder will be attacked by thewater both from the bottom and from the top. As is evident, anyvery great surplusage of water in the carbidholder may iind its escape through the upper series ofperforations e. Of course when the generating action is commenced on a freshly-loaded holder of carbid the waterdripped thereonto will be almost instantly taken up; butin a short time the upper surface of the carbid will become covered with the lime products, and hence after the apparatus has been running a shortA time the action ofV the water on the carbid becomes substantially as 'above described.4 It will also be understood from the foregoing description that as the bottom of the holder becomes filled with dried lime the series of perf. forations, which lie at different horizontal planeswill be closed, one series after the other, thus giving the effect of a bottom which is raised step by step from one series of perforations to the other.

As already noted, the depending cylindrical portion c2 of the generating-receptacle ts very closely to the inner wall or cylindrical flange of the well c5. the cross-section of the annular space formed between said parts is very small as compared with the cross-section of the annular space between said cylindrical portion c? and the outer wall or liange of said well c5, and hence a. considerable rise and fall of the inner annular column of the sealing liquid in the well c5 will cause but a very slight rise or fall of the outer annular column of water in said well. Again, by making the joint between the end of the removable bottom sec-v tion c4 and the outwardly-projecting flanged portion c3 air-tight, or nearly so, the air contained in the well above the column of water and on tward of the depending cylinder c2 will In virtue of this construction -serve as a cushion to prevent a sudden rise or fall in said column.

As also before noted, the gas'contained -in the storage-gasometer is sealed from the wa'` ter e by the oil covering or lm e4 and the gas in the generating-receptacle is sealed from the water .e2 in the well c5 by means of the oil film or covering z". By these oil-seals all evaporation or absorption of the bodies of.

water used in the various devices is absolutely prevented, and hence the only moisture or water which may-become commingled 'with thel gas is' that which becomes vaporized in the generating action but, as already fully described,all of this vaporized water and other impurities are removed or separated from the gas before it reaches the storage-gasometer.

It will be noted that the carbid is contained I OO in a holder which is directly supported by l the removable bottom section of the generating-receptaclegj'and hence that the carbid is supported, although indirectly, by said removable bottom section. Asis perfectly obvious, the carbid might be supported directly by the bottom or lower portion of said removable bottom section.v However, I prefer to use the carbid-holder illustrated.

les

IIO

It will be understood, of course, that inpipe b2, which supplies water to the waterreceptacle b, is in communication with the column of water .e in the gasometer exterior of the movable tank-section a', and hence it is impossible for the oil .e4 to get into the water-receptacle b or comminglewith the water which is used for generating purposes.

It is thought to he obviousfrom the foregoing-description that the construction and operation of the apparatus are extremely simple, considering the completeness and exrzo kzo

treme efficiency of the functions of the apparatus as an entirety.

It will be understood, of course, that varions alterations in the details of construction of the preferred form of my apparatus may be made without departing from thespirit of my invention.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, isas follows l. The combination with a generating-receptacle, pro-vided with an open lower end, of a cup-like telescopically-removable bottom section, provided with a sealing liquid into which the open end of said generating-receptacle is submerged, and means for securing said parts against telescopic movement, under normal variations of gas-pressure, substantially as described.

2., The combination with a generating-receptacle, open at its lower end, of a telescopically-removable bottom section, provided with a marginal-liquid-containin g sealing-well,into

the liquid of. which the lower end of said generating-receptacle is immersed, when said bottom section is in working position,l substantially as described.

The combination with a vgenerating-receptacle, open at its lower end, of a telescopically-removable bottom section, provided with a marginal liquid-containing sealing-well,into the liquid of which the lower end of said generating-receptacle is immersed, when said bottom section is in working position, anda carbid-holder directly supported by said bottom section and insertible and removable, to and from position, thronghthe central passage of said sealing-well, substantially as described.

4.. In a gas generator and holder, the comby movements in reverse directions, valve-` arms extending from said valves, an expansible gasometer in communication with said generating-receptacle, means for connecting,

said valve-arms to the movable gasometersection, and means for varying the relative adjustments of said valves, with respect to each other, substantially as and -for the purbination with a pair of receptacles located one posesset forth.

5. Ina gas generator and holder, the comabove the other, a 'communicating passage between said receptacles, an escape-passage binat-ion with a pair of receptacles located one A arms extending from both 'of said valves, of

an expansible gasometer yin kcommunication with said generating-receptacle, and a common connection from the movable gasometersection, connected to both of said valve-arms, with freedom for adjustments so as to Vary the relative positions of said valve-arms with respect to each other and to the movable gasometer-section, substantially as described.

6. In a gas generator and holder, the combination with a pair of receptacles located one above the other, a communicating passage between said receptacles, an escape-passage opening tothe atmosphere from the generating member of said pair of receptacles, valves in said passages, adapted to be opened by movement in reverse. directions, and valvearms extending from said Valves, of an exvsaid generating-receptacle, and a flexible connection securedA at its upperend, to the movof both of said valve-armsand provided, at its lower end, with ,a weight, substantially as described.

` 7. v A generatingreceptacle, involving a xed head-section having the depending cy.- lindricalportion, an annular projecting flange 4QI' .liliana removable cylindrical section with closed bottom and annular upper end well adapted to contain liquid and to receive the cylindrical portion of said head-section, and means for securing said parts together, consisting of finger-operated spring-catches on said removablel cylindrical section, engageable with the ange of said head, substantially as described.

8. The combination with a gas-generator, of gas-conveying connections leading therefrom, involving as elements thereof, a condensing-coiha drip-pocket or chamber, located below said condensing-coil, and an auxiliary carbid-holder located within said drying-chamber, immediately under the lower end of said condensing-coil and in position'to receive the condensed drippings therefrom, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in' presence of two witnesses.

vLEROY S. BUFFINGTON.

- Witnesses:

. JAS. F. WILLIAMSON,

F. D. MERCHANT.

. able gasometer-section, operating on the ends IOC 

